Remember in, like, 1993 when it was awesome to work for IBM? I remember hearing about their awesome rockstar offices and how many amenities that they had. This guy at my church had just finished Chubb's "Top Gun" program and now was a shoe in at IBM because it was such a great place to work. I heard they had a coffee shop and hair salon INSIDE the building. (hey, it was cool then). I had heard that programmers that worked for big companies like IBM made, like, $200 an hour. It was the place to be.
Then around 2000 I started noticing that only my dad's weird friends worked at IBM. The ones who didn't care that much about where they worked or what they did. The company name wasn't thrown around that much, didn't have the same impact anymore. I no longer had any desire to be a programmer at IBM, it seemed like a bummer.
So, this past weekend the Microsoft in Manhattan hosted Code Camp III. I had a freaking blast, not only did I get to rock my new hightop sneakers but it is so much fun communing with other nerds, isn't it? I don't get to do that too often, my office hasn't had any other developers until recently (our hardcore vegan yoga teaching flash guy), and though I have programmer friends I don't actually SEE them too often. The talks were great, even though I didn't pick up any new tech I wanted to try it's good to see how other people do things sometimes. Gives you a lot of ideas.
One thing struck me as odd, though. So, I expected MS in Manhattan to be posh. However, when I got there they looked like a regular drab office in the city. Now, how "cool" your office looks doesn't make the entire company. However, it does reflect on the management and how much they prioritize their employees. Now, they did have xbox workstations, however, they were the kind you see at Radio Shack. Obviously for visitors and not employees.
Here is a team that knows what they are doing. The fog creek offices are seriously posh. Who WOULDNT die to work there (well, maybe not DIE). Something that Joel knows is that in order to make your staff bust their buns and make your company successful you should show them that they matter to you. Make them love where they are. Even in Joel's blog post about the subject he said it cost a tiny fraction of their revenue. I'm in some pretty sweet digs here (I'll post some pics in the AM, I'm tired). This company understands that in order to attract the talent you need to show them how much they mean to you, we have some serious rockstars under this roof.
Like I said, it's not EVERYTHING. However, if I got a call from Microsoft tomorrow I don't know that I'd be jumping for the phone. That's a very different attitude than the one I used to have. Am I hating on Microsoft? No, I am pretty grateful for this whole "career" thing... but I think that in order to stay current they need to spend a "tiny fraction" of the big bucks they have. Because beleive me, reputation trickles down. If developers don't want to be there users will find out. No matter who they hire, one thing they know is that developers are the best evangelists they have.
Those are some awesome shoes, Sara! :)
ReplyDeleteI'd have to agree... not that I've seen the MS in Manhattan, but I would definitely expect a little more from a high profile company, especially in a city as big as Manhattan.
I guess it also begs the question: Are the Google offices all over the world as posh as their office in Mountain View?
If you build an image of yourself and expect people to believe it, it needs to be consistent. Better yet, it needs to not be your image, but actually what you are.
I'm working in a broom closet / server room right now. But at least I'm not working on a card table in the kitchen like at my last job.
ReplyDelete@Wes: I can't comment on Google offices around the world, but the London one is certainly nice. It has a great cafeteria, microkitchens, giant beanbags (great for early afternoon naps), a massage room, games room etc.
ReplyDeleteThere's more to a working environment than the physical building though: the people are hugely important. My colleagues are hugely smart (I don't know how I got hired) and always interested in geek conversations. I *suspect* the same would be true at any MS engineering office, too.
From the little bit I've gleaned for Google's NYC office (nee DoubleClick) (little bit here means the reception area I can see when the elevator stops on their floor before going to my floor), their digs don't look that impressive or out of the ordinary of NYC. They definitely didn't spend much on lobby decor beyond a monitor showing Google Earth. They do seem to have their own cafeteria, and considering the number of people I see getting breakfast on the 4th floor and then going to their office on the 10th, I'm guessing it free.
ReplyDelete(The building in 111 8th Ave aka 76 9th Ave aka the old Port Authority Building. Google has all of the 4th and some portion of the 10th floors. I work for Barnes Noble.Com which has all of the 9th)
Posh office spaces scare me, just like people in suits. It makes me feel like they are trying to hide something and trick me into a deal that under the surface is really bad.
ReplyDeleteThere's no way I want to work at a company because the office area looks cool. I couldn't care less about that. I care about the type of work, the working environment, and the people. That's what I want to hear about on an interview, not something like you should work here because we have really cool expensive ergonomic workstations and chairs and pretty pictures on the walls and cool toys for nerds to play with. I would rather money be spent on things that matter to me (like what they pay me).
As long as it's functional and not something like working in a closet (I've been there), or even working in a giant open area (hate that layout), then I'm fine.
It all depends pretty much on what the Manhattan office is largely intended for. I suspect an office that is dedicated for sales and marketing would not feature the environment that is enticing for developers.
ReplyDeleteYes, the MSFT office in NYC looks, well, worn out (did you see all that water damage on the wall behind the front desk?). But, they are revamping it over the next couple months. It is going to impact the user groups that use the office as a home base.
ReplyDeleteOh, Sara, my wife, Melissa, (www.sqldiva.com) met you at the last Philly Code Camp.
I didn't see the water damage, Dave, but good to hear they are re-vamping it. I really like the Philly office when I was there the other day.
ReplyDeleteI keep meaning to stop at your wife's SQL group, I hear you guys are doing cool things over there.
I don't think Vista and a 'bad economy' that seems to be only hitting certain people will make people switch. The fact is that Vista is a very good operating system, on par with or exceeding XP, and most people will not want to switch because their 'favorite apps' only work on Windows systems and OS's.
ReplyDeleteI think maybe Microsoft is the New IBM.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Vista and a 'bad economy' that seems to be onlcy hitting certain people will make people switch. The fact is that Vista is a very good operating system, on par with or exceeding XP, and most people will not want to switch because their 'favorite apps' only work on Windows systems and OS's.
ReplyDelete